Plaid Skirts And Skateboards
by Anaghia-san
Summary: Sakura's your average skater girl- living to ride on anythign with two wheels with her best buds, and the works. But what happens when her parents make a decision that could change her high school life completely? Rated T for Teens.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello everybody!!! Welcome to the first chapter of my new story- Plaid Skirts and Skateboarding! This is my first non- SasuHina fanfic for Naruto, so please be nice =).**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters- never have, never will… *sniff*… Enjoy!!! =D**_

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"_Sakura!" I groaned- I hated_ getting up early. "Sakura! It's time for school!"

"Five more minutes, Mom," I whined, pulling the pillow over my head when she came in and turned on the lights in my room that made my eyes sting.

"You said that ten minutes ago!" She scolded. "I actually want you to _eat _something before you head off to school- for once."

"Please turn out the lights," I begged, "I'll be up in a minute."

"Nope. If you want these lights off, you're going to have to turn them off yourself." I heard her footsteps exit my room and head for the stairs.

Finally, I sat up. Blinking my eyes a few times, I looked around my room. It was your everyday messy room- clothes on the floor, cluttered desk, shoes lined up against the far wall, and posters plastered all over my walls. This was my sanctuary.

That's when my eyes found the clock on my nightstand. _7:45?! Shit! I'm gonna be late!,_ I thought as I leaped out of my bed. I couldn't afford to be late during this semester again- Tsundae would kill me!

I quickly went through all of the clothes on the end of my bed, looking for something to wear. When I came up empty-handed, I started going through my closet. Luckily for me, the school I went to didn't have uniforms. There was a dress code, but no one really enforced it. Two of my best friends, Temari and Tenten, think it's because the male teachers -especially Mr. Hatake and the ever-perverted Jiraiya- like looking at the girls in their super short skirts.

In the end, I pulled on a tight black short-sleeved top, my favorite ripped blue jeans, a black wristband, my sneakers, and my black cap to tie it all together. I ran into the bathroom to take care of my hygienic issues, and then ran downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Ah, so nice of you to join us, Sleepyhead," my mother said as she stood at the oven cooking breakfast. I drooled over the fresh pancakes she was flipping.

She turned around and caught me staring. "Sorry Sweetie, but you're going to have to settle for toast and an apple." She handed me my two slices of toast wrapped in a paper towel, along with my paper bag lunch. "Now hurry up before you're late!" The "again" hung in the air between us.

"Where's Dad?" I asked as I stuffed the paper bag into my book bag and grabbed my skateboard.

"He left for work early- he's decided to come home early. Now Sakura, you'll need to-"

"Sorry Mom! I've gotta get going before I'm late!" I cut her off as I swung the door open and ran out. I threw the board under my feet and started rolling. _Ugh, this sucks. Why can't school start later- like at 12:00?, _I thought.

I straightened up my stance on the board and kicked at the ground behind me to go faster. The toast in my hand was starting to cool from all of the wind, so slowed down a bit so I could quickly take out a piece to eat and stuff the rest inside my book bag for later. I sped up again once the toast was in my mouth.

All too soon, the school was in sight. I could see Tsunade at the gates, getting ready to close them. They're supposed to close at 7:55, and whom ever is already inside has to get to class by 8:00. Everyone outside the gate gets a detention, and I've already gotten too many of those. It seems like a stupid rule to me, but hey, just three more years of this and then I'm off.

As I rode onto the school grounds, I kicked back the tail of my board for an Ollie to get over the curb of the sidewalk and sped past Tsundae just as she was beginning to push the gates closed.

She checked her watch and nodded to me. "Looks like you made it just in time," she said as the first gate door closed.

Tsundae is the principal of our school. Most people think that before she had this job, she was a stripper or a hooker. No one could miss her huge breasts, not even the gay guys at my school. And what else would she use _those_ for?

"Thanks Tsundae-sama," I said formally. I stepped off my skateboard, tucked it under my arm, and took the stairs two at a time so I'd get to class on time.

***

Konaha High was your everyday high school- strict and perverted teachers, endless amounts of homework, cliques, jocks, and more. And groups- endlessly different groups. Emos, Goths, jocks again, geeks and nerds, normal people who have no label, skater boys and girls (like yours truly), and the bitches- ehem, I mean the cheerleaders.

There was no real social caste- just groups- since it depends on who looks down on who- but I won't get into that now.

I ran to my locker to get my books, and swore when I missed a number for my combination.

"Yo! Sakura!" I looked up to see Kiba- another one of my besties and skating partner since the sixth grade- walking down the hall towards me. He was taller than I was- at least six feet- with unkempt brown hair and soft brown eyes. Kiba always seemed so at ease whenever I managed to be freaked out about something. In this case, he was strolling towards me as if there weren't a hundred students dodging him to run to class and as if he didn't know that if I was late again, I'd be dead.

"Hey Kiba," I said as I opened up my locker. "What's up?"

"Eh, you know," he shrugged his shoulders, "the usual. You still on for the skate park after school?"

"Only if I manage not to get detention today," I put my board in my locker, grabbed my books and slammed it shut. "And that's only _if_ I make it to class on time."

"Pft, you're actually going to class? I'm skipping."

"_Again_?"

Kiba grinned at me. "Hell yeah- I've got Jiraiya for homeroom. He doesn't give a shit about the boys 'cause he's always too busy staring at the girls." He leaned in close to me. "I haven't been marked absent for a single day in his class. All the guys figure that as long as we don't sell him out, we can do whatever we want during first period."

"Lucky you," I sighed, starting to power walk to homeroom. "I've got Anko for homeroom, and you know how she is."

"Yeah," Kiba frowned, and then grinned. Anko was the school's gym teacher- and a tough one at that. She made students do push-ups in class if they disobeyed her or walked in late- even if it was homeroom. I'd had to do it plenty of times- so much that I think it toned my arm muscles a bit. I actually kind of admired her though- she was a tomboy like me.

The warning bell rang, signaling that there were only two minutes left. "I've gotta get to class now, I'll catch ya later." I told Kiba as I walked off in the direction of my class.

"'Kay, see ya."

***

Oddly enough, homeroom was one of my favorite classes, despite Anko Mitarashi being the instructor. Normally, homeroom was the class where everyone was to discuss plans for college and careers. Since she's not very good at that, Anko lets us take out computers or study for our other subjects. That way, if anyone looked into our classroom -say, Tsundae or a benefactor for our school- they'd think we were doing what we were supposed to be doing. Pretty clever, huh?

She did roll call as I logged into the laptop that I'd pulled out of the computer cart. I clicked on the internet explorer icon and went directly to my MSN hotmail account. I had a few newsletters from the colleges that Anko had us sign up for, an email each from Tenten and Temari- my two other best friends- and an email from Shikamaru, who was traveling with his dad on a business trip in New York. I looked at the "to" box, and sure enough, the same email had been sent to Kiba, Tenten, and Temari as well.

I right-clicked each of the newsletters and marked them as read. Then I skipped down to Shikamaru's email and opened it. It read:

"_Hey guys. Man, being away from home for so long is such a drag. My dad's put me into a school here and it sucks. None of the students I've met so far have the same interests as I do. I'll have to admit, there actually are a few girls who want to be my friend, but for different reasons, if you know what I mean. I keep telling them that I freakin' have a girlfriend, but they won't listen. So troublesome… anyways, my dad says we're only gonna be here until I finish up my semester in school, so it'll be awhile till we leave. I miss you guys. See ya later- Shika_."

My eyes skipped down to his last comment at the bottom of the email. "_P.S_," it said, "_I love you Temari, so please don't fly off the handle about the girls here- I'm not interested in any of them. Besides, it's not like you can come here and beat them down… right? Love ya babe- xoxo Shika_."

I laughed quietly. I could practically hear Kiba gagging at Shika's last comment.

"Haruno!"

My head snapped up. Anko was staring at me from the front of the class, frowning. "Are you _here_, Ms. Haruno?"

"Yes," I mumbled.

"Good," she replied as she checked off my name, "because I'd hate to mark someone absent do to their lack of either attention or hearing- or both."

I rolled my eyes as she moved on to the rest of her list. If she was the one I admired in the school, you could only imagine how the rest of the faculty and staff was…

Shaking it off, I opened Temari's email next. Her message was shorter than Shika's. It said:

"Hey Sakura. Are you coming to the park this afternoon? I'm not coming if you guys aren't- it'll be too boring."

I smiled as I typed in my reply to tell her that I was going. Temari was the newcomer for our group. She'd skated long before we met, and she was pretty talented with anything that had two wheels or more. She was a college student who went to the community college near our school and came to skate with us in between classes.

Deciding to reply to Shikamaru's email later, I moved on to Tenten's email, which had been sent -according to the "to" box- to everyone in our group and just about half the school. It was a flier for her party on Memorial Day weekend- just before the summer. An extravaganza- she called it. It was to be held at the recreation center near where she lived, and there was supposed to be food, drinks, games, activities, and music -endlessly music, I knew, because Tenten was a music lover.

I didn't understand why she was waiting until the summer though. Living in Konaha meant it was a decent temperature year-round, so why couldn't it be hosted on the weekend of her upcoming birthday? When asked, Tenten had just replied "I just had a feeling that the summer'd be more convenient, is all." I sighed and continued to surf the net until the bell rang.

***

"I'm telling you," Kiba was telling me and Tenten as we walked to lunch together, "this school's trying to torture me! My first class is with that perverted freak Jiraiya, then I've got Ebizu second period, and Kakashi third. It's the pervert trifecta!"

"Kiba, why do you even care?" Tenten asked him. "Why are you complaining when that gives you the chance to skip not one, not two, but _three periods in a row_! If I had that, I would be thanking God for the arrangement."

"Ditto," I said, "I've already had Ebizu- and after luch I get Kakashi, and later Jiraiya. And don't brag about how 'bad' you have it! I _can't _skip since I'm a girl and all, remember?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Kiba grinned at me with a wicked smile.

I nudged him in the ribs as I heard Tenten groan. "What's up?" I asked her.

She pointed ahead. "Bitch Squad at twelve o'clock- heading our way."

Both mine and Kiba's eyes looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, there they were, the "we're-so-all-that" cheerleading squad marching down the hallway in their uniforms- probably to non-verbally brag about their status.

Leading the pack, of course, was Ino Yamanaka _(A/N: Sorry to all the Ino fans out there!)_. Stereotypical cheerleader- blond hair, pretty face, curvy body, and a catty personality. And just the kind of thing that could turn my good day into a not so good day.

When our eyes meet, she smirks and begins to head in our direction with her groupies following her.

Great…

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A/N: Woohoo! Another story! Yayz!! =D Luckily, my teachers are taking an easy on us at the moment, so I'm gonna use it to update this and my other stories- _A Vampire's Kiss _and _Love and Breakdancing_. So look out for the updates- see ya! =)

Oh… by the way- I know the title can be a little… misleading. I looked at it the other day and wondered "will anybody think that this story's got something to do with Scotland?" If you are, the answer's no, so you can rule that part out. But I'm not revealing anything till the chapter that reveals the title's meaning is up! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys!! Sorry it's been so long since I updated this story O.o… I had Chapter 2 almost ready to go on my computer (I swear!), but it got deleted because the computer had to be restore because of a virus… again… Anyways, I'm dedicating this chapter to my family, friends (tis' the season XD), and all of my readers and reviews for encouraging me to even make this story o.o! Now, without further ado, here it is- Chapter 2 of ****Plaid Skirts and Skateboards****!!! **

**Disclaimer: I do **_**not**_** own Naruto or any of its characters, alright? Just thought I'd make it known before someone comes and arrests me for copyright…. ENJOY!!!!! =D**

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"Is it me, or is Ino just out to get _only _us?" I muttered as I watch Ino and her gang strut towards us.

"Nope," Kiba said, "She's out to get us. Just glad I'm a boy though- its worse for you guys 'cause your girls. Girl drama, you know?"

"Gee, thanks Kiba."

Ino stops in front of us smack in the middle of the hallway, making anyone who needed to get past inch past behind her. Giving me a once over, she grins. "Sakura," she nods at me.

"Ino," I acknowledged back, praying that she'd leave us the hell alone.

"So, word on the street is that you don't have a date for your little friend's-" she eyes Tenten with a smirk-" -party- which isn't to far off, I might add. Is this _true_?"

I glare at her. "You don't _need_ a date for the party… not unless you're pulling 'an Ino' and bringing a date only to go have sex in a bush in the woods somewhere." I feigned that I made a mistake and covered my mouth with my hand. "Oops, I'm sorry," I told her, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Her smirk slid off her face and was replaced with a frown and a steely glare for the whipped cream on top of the sundae. Kiba and Tenten snickered while I smiled. It always made smile to show her up at her own game. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought it'd be.

"Watch it, Haruno," said a certain red-headed female behind Ino. Karin, who was both the cheerleaders' and Ino's second in command, stared daggers into me over the top of her glasses. She could've easily won over any guy's heart if it weren't for her attitude- one very much like Ino's (Hmm, I wonder where _that_ came from!…).

"Shut up, Karin," was how Ino repaid Karin for "defending" her. She turned back to me, smiled, and then looked at Tenten. "You've got a date for your own party, don't you? If you don't, that's just plain sad."

"What's sad," Tenten said coolly, "is that you think you need an effing date for every freaking event that happens! What- do you need a date every time you take a crap?"

Kiba and I crack up while Ino steams from my friend's comment. Tenten was usually the most patient of our group, so it was funny to hear her snap at the Bitch Squad.

It took Ino almost a entire two minutes to recompose herself (oh! It's so _unattractive _to appear to be so pissed! It's much more attractive to act like a bitch!). She turned to me and smiled again. "Well, I'm concerned that you can't get a date period," she said as she went through her bag, "so I- being as generous as I am- have decided to help you manage one of your many imperfections."

"And _what_ would that be?" I asked, preparing myself for whatever she'd try to pull on me.

She looked up at me with a mock surprised look. "Ohmigosh," she whispered and turned to her crew, "she doesn't know!"

"Know _what_?" _Keep it cool, Sakura, keep it cool_.

"It's horrible! It's… it's your _hair_." Ino looked horrified, as if my hair were a zombie that was getting ready to eat her.

"There's nothing wrong with my hair." "Don't worry, Sakura," she said, ignoring me while she pulled something out of her bag. "I have just the thing." She tossed me a can of something. I looked down at it, read it, and my head snapped back up so I could look back at her.

"'_Blonde hair dye,_" I repeated from what I'd read, "_Guaranteed to relieve anyone of discolored roots, spilt ends, and lack of volume and luster!'_ What the hell is this for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ino said, "It's for that horrible pink hair of yours! I mean, you _must_ have been drunk when you got it dyed that color, right? I'm just going to help you right your mistake."

Giving me the can was the mistake. I chucked it at that stupid blonde head of hers. Unfortunately, she ducked, causing it to sail over her head and into the head of a passerby. "What the _hell_?" He mumbled as he passed by, rubbing his head.

"What'd you do _that_ for?" Ino whined as though I really had hit her.

"I don't need a make-over- much more a make-over to look like you." I said coldly.

"Oh, don't worry- I've some scissors to even out that hellish thing you call a 'good' haircut." She pulled a small pair of silver scissors.

"My hair is _fine_." I growled.

Ino sneered. "Yeah, if you're shaggy poodle."

I had had it. If I allowed her to say anymore, I was going to smack the shit out of her- which I couldn't, not if I wanted to hang out with my friends at the park after school. I pushed past Ino and her squad, knocking the scissors out of her hand at the same time.

"You cut me, you little freak!" She yelped after me, "You better hope I'm able to perform at the game next week, or you'll be sorry!"

Ignoring her, I pushed past everyone who was being a nosy on-looker and made my way towards the bathroom. Once inside, I walked up to the mirror the hung above the sinks. I inspected my reflection.

_That crazy bitch doesn't know what she's talkin' about,_ I thought as I inspected my hair from every angle possible. I had a short cut with bangs in the front. Nothing wrong with it. If it looked a bit ragged, it was supposed to look that way- that was the point.

And the color? I was born with it. My mother always encouraged me to dye it, actually (she said that she doesn't know where I got that gene from- maybe an ancestor- but it's definitely not normal…). But I like it. It's very unusual, and it makes a person stand out in a crowd. I'd even been thinking of getting purple streaks.

"Sakura!" Tenten poked her head into the bathroom, staring at me, "You okay? Did that slitch do anything to you that I should know about?"

"Nah," I said, smiling at her using our secret term for a slut/bitch, "I just got away so I wouldn't slap her. Can't get in trouble today- not if I want to go to the park, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Tenten grinned. "For a second there, I thought you were comin' in here to cry or something!"

"Hell no!"

"Well, come on then! Kiba's getting really aggravated because they're serving slices of apple pie today, and he's not gonna hold out much longer!" Tenten came in, grabbed my arm, and practically dragged me out of the bathroom.

"So," Tenten spoke as she steered me towards the cafeteria, "you really don't think we need dates for my party?" She sounded kind of sad.

"Well, I know that _I_ don't," I laughed, "Any boy who's brave enough to tangle with me is nuts."

"She chuckles. "So… I won't be like Ino if I bring someone along?"

"Of course not," I said, surprised that she was even asking, "It's your party, you can bring and invite whoever you want! Besides, it takes a lot of effort to be like Ino- slitchiness and all!" We laugh together as we push open the lunchroom doors.

The smell of apple pie hit me almost immediately. I inhaled deeply, knowing that tomorrow I'd be smelling mystery meatloaf again (as usual). A good smell coming from the cafeteria was as rare as… well, it was just _really_ rare.

After we got our lunch, Kiba waved us over to a table across the room by the windows. He grinned at me as I eyed his two slices of apple pie.

"How did you get-" I started.

"Two slices?" His grinned widened even more. "I did the cafeteria lady a favor."

"What _kind _of favor?" I asked. And, amazingly, our cafeteria lady was actually pretty attractive- way too attractive to be serving that poor excuse for food to ungrateful teenagers. Kiba had a crush on her, and Tenten and I always made fun of him for it.

"What? Did you ask her on a date or something?" Tenten innocently took a bite out of her pie, batting her eyelashes at Kiba.

Kiba blushed. "No! I… gave her a tip."

I nearly snorted my milk I was drinking from laughing. "What'd you say it was for when she asked what it was for? I know she asked."

"None of your business!" Kiba stuffed his mouth with a forkful of pie, refusing to speak.

"You should ask her to the party!" I told Kiba with a meaningful look at Tenten. Kiba looked away, still blushing. "Which reminds me- Tenten, who are _you_ taking to your party?"

This time it was Tenten's turn to blush. She cleared her throat. "Neji Hyuga…" she said.

"Neji?" I looked past her in the direction I thought I'd seen him in. Sure enough, there he was, standing in the corner of the cafeteria with a couple of other guys I couldn't place.

Neji Hyuga wasn't bad looking at all. He stood at at least five foot seven with brown hair- like Tenten's- a face clear of acne, a nice build, and intense pale eyes. He had the potential to be a jock, but his ego wasn't as swelled up as the rest of the jocks at our school. But that sisn't mean he was perfect or my type.

"What is it about him that you like, exactly?" I asked my friend, "He just seems so… serious."

"And seems like the stuck up, too well-kept, non-skater type that we're _not _looking to hang out with," Kiba said, his mouth full of pie.

Tenten frowned. "You guys are being way to judgemental!" She sighed and propped her chin up with her arm on the table. "There's more to him than that."

"And you know this _how_?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

She blushed. "Well… we've got a class together- chemistry class-"

"Oohh," Kiba cooed sarcastically, "how ironic."

"Shut up!" Tenten snapped and then started again. "So… we're science partners. This one day, I accidentally made the substance in our beaker explode when I added too much of something else-"

"So _you're_ the one who blew up the chem lab!" I grinned.

"I didn't blow it up and will you let me finish?" She asked hotly.

"Go ahead."

"Okay, so it didn't blow up immediately. I mean, no one knew 'cause my eyebrows are still intact. But anyway, it was a delayed reaction- but I knew I did it since I was the last one to put any shit in there. The teacher took ours up to her desk 'cause she thought the reaction was interesting, and then _'boom!',_ the whole damn thing blew up! She was pissed- called me and Neji out to stay after class."

"Is there a _point _to this story?" Kiba asked, yawning.

Tenten ignored him and continued. "So when she asked what happened, I was about to fess up when Neji told her that it was his fault- not mine. She gave him detention for it until her eyebrows grew back." I snickered as she finished up. "And ever since then, we've been writing notes to each other during class and getting to know each other." My friend blushed again.

"So cute!" I hugged her. "I'm so proud of you! You like a boy! You've got a _date_!!"

Kiba groaned. "This is the downside to having two best friends that are girls…" he muttered to himself.

"Hey, it could be worse- could be mall crawling with us." I told him.

"Touché."

The bell rang, and I dumped my mostly empty tray into a nearby garbage can. "C'mon," I told them, "I'm trying not to get a detention today, so I can't be late to any of my classes."

"Sakura trying _not_ to get in trouble? Now I've seen _everything_!" Kiba laughed. I nudged him as all three of us walked out of the room together.

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A/N: Whew! I finally finished the chapter! Sorry to keep you guys waiting, but I'm going to try and post future chapters more frequently. Plus, track season's going to be starting up soon, so if I don't live up to doing that, don't worry! I'm definitely not quitting!! Chapter 3- coming soon! See ya!! =D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello! Welcome to the next chapter of "Plaid Skirts and Skateboards"!! I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. If not, it's going to get better- I promise. =)

**Disclaimer: I do **_**not**_** own Naruto or its characters- at all… *sigh*…. ENJOY!!! =D**

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"_Freedom!!_" A guy ran past me toward the now-open front doors, shouting that as he wents.

"Damn," Kiba mumbled, covering his ears, "I love getting out of school as much as- no, _more_ than the next guy- but does he really need to broadcast the obvious so loudly?"

"Hey, don't front," I told him with a grin, "you can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if you had detention today."

"Please. I have more dignity than that."

"Hello, guys?" Tenten waved her hand in front of our faces. "Remember the park? I wanna get there as soon as possible! I've got to baby-sit some kids for a friend of my mom's, so I won't be able to stick around as long today."

"Can't you take them with you?" Kiba suggested as we walked through the main doors among the huge mass of students.

"What? And get them little helmets and skateboards of their own? Cute, but no."

"How come you never use any of my suggestions?" Kiba whined.

"Because the last 'suggestion' from you that I used almost got me grounded for three weeks, that's why!"

I sighed. "You two fight just like an old couple…"

They turn to glare at me. "Never!" both of them said simultaneously, causing me to crack up.

We walked to the gates and then made a right turn to get to the park. "How 'bout a race to the park, huh?" Kiba threw his well-worn skateboard on the ground and stood on top of it.

Tenten and I threw our boards on the ground and mounted them too. "Sure," I said.

"What're the stakes?" Tenten asked.

"The usual, of course," Kiba said, "Winner gets a boarder's wish at the park. Loser has to grant it."

Tenten and I glanced at each other, excitement dancing in our eyes. We both knew that the "boarder's wish"- something that the three of us had made up ourselves- was a wish that could and would be granted to one of us as long as it had to do with skateboarding, of course. It could be anything from asking for the grinding rail for the day to asking for a new set of wheels for their board. As long as it was within reason- and our meager teenage budget- anything went.

"Anything else?" I asked, knowing what was coming.

"Yep," Kiba stepped off of his board for a moment, rolling it back and forth with one foot. "If you get caught by any authorities whatsoever, it's an automatic disqualification- meaning you lose by default."

"And what if we go to jail?" I asked, knowing that riding on the sidewalk was illegal in this part of town.

"Then the wish'll be granted when the loser gets out- simple as that." Kiba smiled wickedly.

"You won't be smiling when I beat you, Kiba," Tenten put on her game face.

"C'mon, we'll start here." He pointed to a crack in the sidewalk.

We all lined up- with me on the side of the street since there wasn't much room on the sidewalk- at the visible crack that Kiba had pointed out. I loved the thrill of it. It was almost like running in a Nascar race, but without the proper padding and crew chiefs and crap.

"Ready." Kiba said. I put one foot on the ground to push off with.

"Set." Tenten said. I leaned forward to get ready.

"Go!" I said.

And then we were off. The rush was unbelievable. I'd never felt so free, the wind blowing through my hair and the ground moving under my board. I rounded the first corner with my two best friends, neck-and-neck-and-neck, almost running into some older guy from our school (a senior, maybe) who looked very punk-rock. He shouted profanity at us, but we sped on, laughing our asses off, like we always do whenever someone did that.

I looked over at my friends when we were about to make a turn onto the main street and asked, "Are we splitting up?"

"They looked at each other and grinned. "Heck yeah!" Kiba said.

"Never said we couldn't," Tenten called to me over the rattle of wheels beneath us.

"Alright, let's go!" I made a sharp to the left and raced down an alley, my own personal shortcut. To make sure, I looked back to see if the guys were following me. They weren't.

I wondered what ways they were going. I was pretty sure that my way was the fastest- or at least the second fastest, anyway. Ever since I found it, I've never come in last place. I even came in first place once or twice. It was how I got my wheel fixed.

Once I made it through the alley, I made a small right turn and crossed the side street on a red light. The only car that was on the street honked at me and flipped me the bird, but I laughed and gladly returned the gesture.

I sped down the sidewalk of the main street, sometimes swerving to avoid little kids and old people. Some yelled after me, others just went on as though nothing had happened. I was just lucky I hadn't run into a policeman yet. I've run into them before- it's not pretty.

I rolled past a small doughnut shop, a sweet, tempting smell floating out the open door. That was the only problem with my newly-found route, I was always tempted to put the breaks on and run inside for a quick bite of a banana cream-filled doughnut with chocolate icing on top. But I had will power. The will power to just ride on by… and come back for some after I was going home from the park.

I rolled through the cloud of sweet smells and moved on, narrowly missing an old lady carrying a small bag of groceries. No cops yet. Good.

I made another turn to cross the main street, but I had to wait because of the heavy traffic. Bouncing in place impatiently, I stared at the streetlight hanging above the intersection. _Go,_ I thought, _c'mon, go._

Finally, the light changed, and I sped across, eager not to be granting any wishes today. After cutting across the intersection, I made a sharp left and jumped the curb to avoid running into a pole. _Hill's coming up soon,_ I thought. I loved the hill. A hill in the skateboarding world equaled no pushing off with your foot, but more speed for the rider without even working up a sweat.

_So a right at the next light_, I navigated the familiar path. I leaned right and began to turn when suddenly, I ran into something- hard. I was thrown back from the force of the impact. And even though everything was happening so quickly, I realized that- from a loud shriek- that I had in fact ran into _someone_.

I landed on my butt hard, and my board landed next to me, overturned, the wheels still spinning. I stuck out my arms behind me to keep myself upright, the only cost my hands getting scraped from the friction with the ground. I heard the sound of bags and glass falling to the ground before I could look up to see, and a small _thump_ and a feminine grunt come from whoever I had just wiped out. Breathing heavily, I looked up.

Karin was lying there, opposite me, sitting up to inspect the damage. She cried out when she looked around at her shattered glasses and groceries scattered all around us. I glanced at the nearest container that had rolled away from her. A beauty product. I looked at the one next to it. Another one. Then I looked up. _Beauty Emporium, _I read_._

When I looked back at Karin, she had settled down, and her expression had changed from shock and grief to pure anger. And then her eyes met mine. Although it didn't seem possible, she looked even more furious after she did.

…Shit.

Karin stood up, hands on her hips. "What the hell?" She began, "do you know how much all this cost me?!"

"Well, I-" She didn't give me time to finish.

"I paid well over eighty dollars for these! They were for makeovers at Ino's sleepover tonight, and she put up most of the money to get them! Do you know how much hell she'll give me if I come back with _nothing_?"

"Look, I-"

"You're going have to pay me back for all of this shit! Right now." Karin's face was getting redder by the minute, but it was still nothing compared to her red hair.

"I can't," I rushed in before she could start ranting again, "I don't even have that much with me! And I've got somewhere to be right now. I'll pay you back later."

"No." Karin said firmly, "You pay me now. Either that or you come with me and tell Ino what happened."

"No way," I said, picking up my board and getting up. I thought about what Ino would do to me if I walked into her house, saying the money she gave Karin was non-existent. "I'm sure you guys can improvise. I mean, pretty girls like you don't even need makeup!" I couldn't hold back my snicker after the last part.

"You're paying me back," Karin said, reaching for me. Before I could pull my hand away, she latched onto my wrist and held on so tightly it hurt.

"Let go!" I told her, my teeth gritted. I pushed her in her chest with my free hand, causing her to stumble and let go of my wrist.

She glared at me. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Karin said.

Before she could get out of her defensive stance and stop me, I ran past her around the corner. She called after me, but I wasn't stopping. "Guys!" I heard her calling, probably into the open door of the store. Back-up? Wait, didn't one of her cheerleader friends have a mom that owned the store? Damn…

Without looking back, I ran down the practically empty street, my board tucked under my left arm. To my dismay, I heard footfalls behind me- definitely more than one pair of feet. Damn! How many were there? Would they follow me to the park? Where could I lose them around here? The path I was on was the only one I knew.

"Get back here!" one of them called. An old man watering a flower pot outside of one of the buildings looked up, his watering can still positioned above the flowers. He first looked at me, then at the mob behind me, and then back at me. He made no move to help me at all, only his eyes moving to look between me and what was behind me, and then he went back to watering the plants.

I kept on running down the length of the street, almost winded. Any rational person would have stopped by then, would have turned themselves in. But I wasn't going to stop. I had to keep going. I had promised that I was going to pay her back- and I was. When it comes to money and debts, I always pay people back. But there was no way Karin and Ino were going to trust me to pay back a cent unless I handed it to them the moment I owned them.

Deciding to take a chance, I made a right into a driveway and through an open metal, chain-link fence, hoping to shake them off by cutting through someone's backyard and jumping a fence or two. But then I remembered. I wasn't close enough to the suburbs for there to be anything like that. I was closer to the city, which meant apartments, buildings, a few abandoned buildings, and empty parking lots… like the one I had just run into.

"_Shit_," I breathed. I could feel my myself slowing, my breathing getting heavier. In one more feeble attempt to get them to stop chasing me down, I yelled over my shoulder, "I'll pay you back later, I promise!" I didn't hear them slow down or stop, so I didn't either.

I looked ahead wearily, and swore again. A dead end. Left or right? I chose left, thinking that there had to be another fence for me to climb somewhere.

I chose wrong. Another dead end was coming up. _Where now?_ I thought. _Where else is there to-_

And that was when I tripped. My legs had finally given out. My face scraped on the ground as I landed. The footfalls finally stopped running behind me, but I knew that it wasn't a good thing.

In seconds, I was surrounded. I picked my face up from the ground and looked up. There were four of them- all cheerleaders, all pissed off. I would've groaned because of my predicament, but I was in no position to be doing that.

"You're gonna pay, whether you have the money or not," Karin said from above me. And that was when I felt the first of many blows on my back.

* * *

A/N: Omg!! Poor Sakura! I apologize to all you Sakura lovers out there, but it had to be done. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure she'll be okay later on… but if you won't take my word for it, stay tuned and find out in the next chapter of Plaid Skirts and Skateboards! Thanks! See ya!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello people! Welcome back to Plaid Skirts and Skateboards!!! Last time we left off, Sakura got into some trouble with Karin and her friends. What will happen next???

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters….. ENJOY!!! =D**

* * *

Silently, I walked through the park alone, thinking about nothing in particular, trying to ignore the pain that riveted through my body with each step. What would my friends do if they saw me like that? I'd never been jumped before, but one time when I had fallen off my board and broken my ankle, Kiba basically threw me over his shoulder and carried me all the way to the small clinic ten blocks away. The whole time he was carrying me (against my will), he kept telling me to shut up, that I needed to be more careful next time. I've never forgotten that day…

As I walked further down the path, the skating zone of the park came into view. The grinding rails, the bowl, the ramps- it was my second home. But by then, I was just ready to go to my actual home, to crawl into my own bed and sleep the pain away.

Just as I had expected, Kiba and Tenten had already made it, and so had Temari. They were standing there, looking around in the opposite direction I was coming from. Would they be able to figure out what had happened just by looking at me?

Suddenly, Temari glanced in my direction and grinned. "Hey," she called to me, "there's our girl! What took you so…" She trailed off as she looked me up and down, and then looked at me with a mix of horror and anger in her eyes.

Kiba and Tenten had turned by then, and were taking me in, too. "What happened to you?!" Tenten shrieked, jogging over to me.

"Did what I think happened to you, happen?" Kiba growled out.

"If you're think I got jumped on my way here, then yeah," I said, miserably.

"Who did this?" Tenten asked, her hand resting gingerly on my arm. I looked at her, remembering, preparing to tell them all that had happened.

***

_Through the first rain of blows, I screamed at them to stop. I hollered for help. Then I couldn't help but think- _No one but that old man can probably hear me._ I curled into the fetal position so that they wouldn't kick me in my face._

_After a few minutes, the kicking and hitting stopped. Karin spoke, here voice dripping with malicious satisfaction. "You're just lucky that my gang here is only four people big, otherwise you'd have been done for." Her friends cackled around me._

You bitch, I hope you die, _I thought at her._

"_What'd you say?!" She shrieked at me, making me inhale sharply. I had spoken aloud??_

_She took a handful of my hair and lifted my head up so that I was forced to look at her. She looked like the most evil being on the planet I had ever seen. Even monsters had nicer expressions. "I hope you do realize that I actually do have the potential to kill _you_ right now, Haruno," she hissed at me._

_I tried to not look at all fazed by this, but she was right. She smiled slowly at me, the smile of a grinch. Karin forcefully pushed my head back down on the ground, actually hard enough for light to flash behind my eyelids. I bit back my cry._

"_Alright, let's go before anyone comes around and sees us," Karin commanded. I heard her footsteps leaving away from me, and another set of feet. Before the other two left- and before I thought to get back into the fetal position again- they both kicked me one more time each. One managed to kick me in my face, the blow landing right on my left cheek. The other attempted the same, but I was quick to get back into that position, and she only managed to get my hand with her last attempt. After that, they left with Karin._

_And then I was alone, in shock- the pain hadn't hit home yet. I didn't get up, just quietly kept going over the whole scene in my head over and over again. _

_I don't know when the only few tears I'd cried in a long time fell. They just did. Where had everyone been? Why hadn't that old man called for help? Why did Karin do that to me? It was only eighty dollars- I could've paid her back easily if she had given me the chance. Was all of that really worth eighty dollars. What the hell could beating the shit out of me do to pay her back? Ino would still be pissed at her, regardless._

_After I finally stopped crying, I tried to bring up one of my arms to wipe my face. I cringed. It hurt. I assessed my limbs- my arms, my legs, and everything else I could move. Everything hurt. Even my cheek was beginning to hurt by then- it's slow throb of pain escalating as the muscles worked in my face._

_Despite that, I slowly got to my feet, gasping every time a slice of pain cut through me like a hot knife. I had to get to the park, to my friends, and not wait for anyone to find me here. After all, what would be the odds of finding someone to help me around there. I'd more likely find a hobo or a rapist. And even if I did somehow find a policeman, what good would that do? I'd get questioned for hours, my parents would get called, and then I would be questioned by _them_- when I really would want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. So what good is that, really?_

_Silently, I began the painful walk to the park, where my unsuspecting friends were. Pain rang through my body with each step. It was going to be a long walk._

***

"So Karin… is in a gang?" Temari asked, incredulous.

"Apparently," I said simply.

"And she did this to you… because you ran into her and ruined all her easily replaceable beauty crap?" Kiba asked, his voice filled with rage.

"Yep."

"This is low- even for her," Tenten sat me down on a nearby bench. I winced. Even the simplest movements hurt like hell. "Do you think Ino knows about this?" She asked, looking at me with an intense expression.

"Of course she knows!" Kiba exclaimed. "It's practically her _job_ to go after Sakura, and us! I wouldn't put it past her to be in the mix herself!"

"But Karin said her crew was only four strong, and there were only four girls- including her- there," I clarified, my cheek still throbbing.

"So you're saying Ino has nothing to do with this?" Temari asked, her foot rolling her board on the ground back and forth.

"No, I'm not saying that she doesn't know. But she's not part of it. At least, that's what Karin implied." I leaned against Tenten. I was tired, all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Hey, no sleeping yet," Kiba said, walking over to me and touching my shoulder very gently, "we've got work to do."

"Work?" I mumbled, "What kind?"

"Well first off, we've gotta clean you up before your parents see you… unless you _want_ them to see you like this."

"I look that bad?"

"Well, you don't look too good right now, honey," Tenten said, putting an arm around me. She shook me gently. "Come on, let's go to my place- no one's home, so we won't be bothered or anything."

***

_Oh my God_, I thought,_ I _do_ look horrible._

In the comfort of Tenten's bathroom, I gazed into her large, full-body mirror that was on the back of the bathroom door. They were right- I didn't look good at all.

Where I had been kicked in my face, my cheek had started to swell up, and a faint purplish-blue bruise was starting to bloom there. Bruises were appearing all down the length of both my arms, and I found a few lacing my legs after I lifted up my pants legs. When I took off my shirt, I gasped. There were a lot of bruises back there too. "Shit," I breathed.

Tenten walked in without knocking, with a few small jars in hand. She stopped short when she saw me, almost fully exposed. "Those bitches," she breathed out, giving me a sympathetic look. She put all of her materials down on the sink counter top.

"What's all that stuff?" I asked her, inspecting the small plastic jars and tubes.

"Concealer, creams, pain killers- the works," she answered simply. "Come on, wash your face- you'll regret it if your skin's not clean first. Then sit down so I can apply this stuff."

Obediently, I washed my face as thoroughly as I could, running my hands gently over the tender spot on my cheek. Then I sat down on the closed toilet seat. Tenten kneeled down in front of me and unscrewed a cap to the first jar.

"What's that?" I asked, leaning back an inch or two. If there was one thing I would never be comfortable with, it would be people getting too close to my face, especially with an unknown substance.

"Chill," Tenten said, sounding offended, "it's just some cream to soft up your skin. Then I'll slap on some concealer that fits your skin tone, and after that-" she looked me over, "- then we're gonna go find some clothes to cover up those bruises on your arms, like a jacket or something."

I sat there quietly as she applied the cool liquid to my face. It felt good, all cool and gentle. The only sound that could be heard was our quiet breathing.

After Tenten put down the jar of softener, rinsed off her hands, and picked up the next one to apply it, she asked, "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happened back there?"

I frowned. "I told you guys the story already."

"No, not that," she waved toward me impatiently before she unscrewed the cap to the concealer, "I mean- why didn't you call somebody? Call for us? We would've came running, you know- especially Kiba. You're like a sister to him."

"I did call for help," I clarified, "but no one heard me. And the more I screamed-" I gestured to the darkest bruise on my arm, "-the harder they hit me."

"Oh," Tenten said, going silent. "Well, don't worry," she said, rubbing concealer on my face, "we'll deal with them later- somehow…"

***

Later, after I had enough concealer to cover up the bruise on my face and Tenten had found a jacket for me to borrow, the both of us -with Temari- sat on the couch in Tenten's living room, Kiba pacing in front of us.

"He's been like this for ten minutes," I whispered to Tenten, "should we stop him?"

"Nah, you know how he is when he's thinking- he'll stop soon, I'm sure," she whispered back.

Kiba continued to pace, and mumbled, "what? _What_?"

"Yes- what?" Temari asked, clearly annoyed at sitting still for so long. "I got a class to get to, remember? So now what?"

Kiba stopped pacing, and looked up slowly, a grin on his face. "What?" I asked.

"It's perfect," he said.

"What the hell is 'it'?!" Temari said, irritated.

I expected Kiba to snap at her, but instead, he just kept grinning. "C'mon, what is it, Kiba?" I asked him, getting a little impatient myself.

He smiled at me. "The perfect revenge plan."

* * *

A/N: Ooo, wonder what Kiba's plan is?! Will it work? Is it even _legal_?! Why am I asking _**you**_ all of these questions??? Stick around for the next chapter of Plaid Skirts And Skateboards!! Till then- see ya! =D


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